Free Drawboard PDF AlternativesTop PDF Readers & Note-taking Tools like Drawboard PDF

The best free alternative to Drawboard PDF is Okular, which is also Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 25 alternatives to Drawboard PDF and many of them is free so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free alternatives to Drawboard PDF are Foxit PDF Reader, Xournal++, Evince and Excalidraw.

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Drawboard PDF alternatives are mainly PDF Readers but may also be PDF Editors or Note-taking Tools. Filter by these or use the filter bar below if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of Drawboard PDF.

Drawboard PDF

PDF Reader
Freemium • Proprietary

The top AEC PDF app to markup and manage drawings and documents. Ideal for replacing pen and paper, avoid printing documents again by using our intuitive feature set that makes marking up a PDF easy. Open or create a new...

More about Drawboard PDF

Drawboard PDF alternatives page was last updated Jun 14, 2024

Okular
Multi-platform, fast and packed with features, Okular allows you to read PDF documents, comics and EPub books, browse images, visualize Markdown documents, and much more.
108 Okular alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- PDF Reader
- Ebook Reader
Platforms
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- KDE Plasma
- Flathub
- Linux Mobile
+2
Top Okular Features
1. PDF annotation
2. Text Highlighting
3. Lightweight
4. Tabbed interface
5. Dark Mode
6. Ad-free
7. Low memory usage
8. KDE
9. Works Offline
10. Customizable shortcuts
11. Text editing
12. Fill PDF Forms
Show all NaN Okular features ▾
Okular VS Drawboard PDF
Is Okular a good alternative to Drawboard PDF?
Comments about Okular as an Alternative to Drawboard PDF

Guest
The annotation for okular doesn't function as seamless drawing on a PDF
Negative comment •Mar 16, 2020
2
dsohad
The pen isnt work with this app.
Positive comment •Feb 15, 2024
-1
- Some users think Okular is a great Drawboard PDF alternative, some don't.
- Okular is the most popular Windows & Linux alternative to Drawboard PDF.
- Okular is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Drawboard PDF.
- Okular is Free and Open SourceDrawboard PDF is Freemium and Proprietary
- Okular is LightweightDrawboard PDF is not according to our users

Foxit PDF Reader
Foxit Reader is a free, light-weight PDF viewer available on multiple platforms. It allows users to view, annotate, form-fill, and sign PDF documents. The software supports standard PDF and XFA form filling and integrates with cloud storage services and enterprise Content...
115 Foxit PDF Reader alternatives
License model
- Free Personal • Proprietary
Application types
- PDF Reader
- PDF Editor
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- ReactOS
Top Foxit PDF Reader Features
1. PDF annotation
2. Fill PDF Forms
3. Sign PDF files
4. Highlighter
5. Text to Speech
6. Tablet support
7. Booklet printing
8. Lightweight
9. Support for scripting
10. Text Highlighting
11. Spell Checking
12. Portable
Show all NaN Foxit PDF Reader features ▾
Bundleware
The installer tries to install McAfee WebAdvisor and PhantomPDF Business. These can be skipped by clicking Decline on each.
Foxit PDF Reader VS Drawboard PDF
Is Foxit PDF Reader a good alternative to Drawboard PDF?
Comments about Foxit PDF Reader as an Alternative to Drawboard PDF

violoncello
doesn't allow handwritten annotations with a stylus
Negative comment •Dec 31, 2020
1
Guest
You can write into the PDF, underline text, ... Similar features to Drawboard PDF even in the free version.
Positive comment •Mar 7, 2018
4
Guest
Hand written notes are note quite the same as Drawboard PDF
Negative comment •Feb 29, 2020
2
- Some users think Foxit PDF Reader is a great Drawboard PDF alternative, some don't.
- Foxit PDF Reader is the most popular Mac alternative to Drawboard PDF.
- Foxit PDF Reader is Free Personal and ProprietaryDrawboard PDF is Freemium and Proprietary
- Foxit PDF Reader is LightweightDrawboard PDF is not according to our users

Xournal++
Xournal++ (a fork of Xournal) is a handwriting Notetaking software with PDF annotation support. Written in C++ with platform independent GTK, supporting Linux, e.g. Ubuntu, Debian, Arch, Suse, macOS and Windows 10. Supports Pen input like Wacom Tablets.
48 Xournal++ alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- Note-taking Tool
- Digital Painting Tool
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
+1
Top Xournal++ Features
1. Handwritten Notes
2. PDF annotation
3. Support for styluses
4. Handwriting
5. Export to PDF
6. Works Offline
7. LaTeX Math
8. Pen Support
9. Pressure Sensitivity
10. Multi layer drawing
11. Freehand Writing
12. Audio with notes
Show all NaN Xournal++ features ▾
Xournal++ VS Drawboard PDF
Is Xournal++ a good alternative to Drawboard PDF?

Ad
Foxit PDF Reader
Foxit Reader is a free, light-weight PDF viewer available on multiple platforms. It allows users to view, annotate, form-fill, and sign PDF documents. The software supports standard PDF and XFA form filling and integrates with cl...

https://www.foxit.com/pdf-reader/
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Evince
Evince (or GNOME Document Viewer) is a document viewer for multiple document formats: PDF, Postscript, djvu, tiff, dvi, XPS, SyncTex support with gedit, comics books (cbr,cbz,cb7 and cbt) and others. See Supported Document Formats for details.
113 Evince alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- PDF Reader
- Ebook Reader
Platforms
- Linux
- PortableApps.com
- Flathub
- GNOME
+3
Top Evince Features
1. Lightweight
2. PDF annotation
3. Invert colours
4. Multiple languages
5. Dark Mode
6. Ad-free
7. Portable
8. Works Offline
9. No registration required
10. Minimalistic
11. No Tracking
12. Privacy focused
Show all NaN Evince features ▾
Evince VS Drawboard PDF
Is Evince a good alternative to Drawboard PDF?

Excalidraw
Excalidraw is an open-source whiteboard tool that lets you easily sketch diagrams that have a hand-drawn feel to them. Available directly online as a web app and also through CodeSandbox to easily see how the code works, and the app is available for self-hosting.
30 Excalidraw alternatives
License model
- Freemium • Open Source
Application types
- Whiteboard
- Note-taking Tool
Platforms
- Online
- Self-Hosted
+1
Top Excalidraw Features
1. Shared whiteboard
2. Interactive Whiteboard
3. Real time collaboration
4. Export to SVG
5. Mind Mapping
6. No registration required
7. Dark Mode
8. End-to-End Encryption
9. Ad-free
10. Support for Layers
11. Cloud Sync
12. Privacy focused
Show all NaN Excalidraw features ▾
Excalidraw VS Drawboard PDF
Is Excalidraw a good alternative to Drawboard PDF?
- Excalidraw is the most popular Self-Hosted alternative to Drawboard PDF.
- Excalidraw is Freemium and Open SourceDrawboard PDF is Freemium and Proprietary
- Excalidraw is Privacy focusedDrawboard PDF is not according to our users

Adobe Acrobat Reader
View, sign, collaborate on and annotate PDF files with our free Acrobat Reader software. And to easily edit and convert your PDFs into file formats like Excel and Word, try out PDF editor and converter Acrobat Pro DC.
104 Adobe Acrobat Reader alternatives
License model
- Freemium • Proprietary
Application types
- PDF Reader
- PDF Printer
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
+9
Top Adobe Acrobat Reader Features
1. PDF annotation
2. Edit PDF
3. Fill PDF Forms
4. Document Annotations
5. Create PDF files
6. Combine PDF
7. Dark Mode
8. Sign PDF files
9. Lightweight
10. OCR
11. No registration required
12. Works Offline
Show all NaN Adobe Acrobat Reader features ▾
Adobe Acrobat Reader VS Drawboard PDF
Is Adobe Acrobat Reader a good alternative to Drawboard PDF?
Comments about Adobe Acrobat Reader as an Alternative to Drawboard PDF

Guest
limited annotation capabilities. Cannot write directly onto pdf like in drawboard.
Negative comment •Feb 19, 2018
7
violoncello
doesn't allow for handwritten annotations with a stylus
Negative comment •Dec 31, 2020
0
- This alternative is disputed. Adobe Acrobat Reader is a legitimate Drawboard PDF alternative, but it might have issues that some users think are important.
- Adobe Acrobat Reader is Freemium and ProprietaryDrawboard PDF is also Freemium and Proprietary
- Adobe Acrobat Reader is LightweightDrawboard PDF is not according to our users

OpenBoard Whiteboard
OpenBoard is a cross-platform (Linux / Windows / macOS) interactive whiteboard application. It is currently maintained by the Education Department (DIP) of the Canton of Geneva in Switzerland.
82 OpenBoard Whiteboard alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- Note-taking Tool
- Whiteboard
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
+2
Top OpenBoard Whiteboard Features
1. Interactive Whiteboard
2. Handwritten Notes
3. Fullscreen support
4. Freeform notes
5. Pressure Sensitivity
6. Pencil
7. Dark Mode
8. Lightweight
9. Ad-free
10. Real time collaboration
11. Handwriting
12. Dual screen support
Show all NaN OpenBoard Whiteboard features ▾
OpenBoard Whiteboard VS Drawboard PDF
Is OpenBoard Whiteboard a good alternative to Drawboard PDF?

Butterfly
Butterfly is a note app where your ideas come first. You can paint, add texts, and export them easily on every device. This app works on android, windows, linux, and in the web.
37 Butterfly alternatives
+3
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- Note-taking Tool
- Digital Painting Tool
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Online
- Android
- Android Tablet
- Self-Hosted
- F-Droid
Top Butterfly Features
1. Dark Mode
2. No Tracking
3. Handwritten Notes
4. No registration required
5. Ad-free
6. Works Offline
7. End-to-End Encryption
8. Distraction-free
9. Privacy focused
10. Portable
11. Cloud Sync
12. Lightweight
Show all NaN Butterfly features ▾
Butterfly VS Drawboard PDF
Is Butterfly a good alternative to Drawboard PDF?

Papers
A document viewer for the GNOME desktop. You can view, search or annotate documents in many different formats.
55 Papers alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- PDF Reader
- Ebook Reader
Platforms
- Linux
- Flathub
- GNOME
- Flatpak
Papers Features
1. Ad-free
2. Privacy focused
3. Full-Text Search
4. Lightweight
5. Works Offline
6. No registration required
7. No Tracking
8. Dark Mode
9. Text to Speech
Show all NaN Papers features ▾
Papers VS Drawboard PDF
Is Papers a good alternative to Drawboard PDF?

xournal
Xournal is an application for notetaking, sketching, keeping a journal using a stylus. It is free software (GNU GPL) and runs on Linux (recent distributions), Windows and other GTK+/Gnome platforms.
47 xournal alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application type
- Note-taking Tool
Platforms
- Windows
- Linux
xournal Features
1. PDF annotation
2. Handwritten Notes
3. Edit PDF
4. Support for styluses
5. Drawing Tablet Support
6. Sketching
Show all NaN xournal features ▾
Discontinued
It hasn't been updated since 2017, but there is an active fork Xournal++
xournal VS Drawboard PDF
Is xournal a good alternative to Drawboard PDF?

Skim
Skim is a PDF reader and note-taker for OS X. It is designed to help you read and annotate scientific papers in PDF, but is also great for viewing any PDF file.
81 Skim alternatives
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
- PDF Reader
- Note-taking Tool
Platforms
- Mac
Skim Features
1. Lightweight
2. Clean design
3. Note extraction
4. PDF annotation
5. Ad-free
6. Export annotations
Show all NaN Skim features ▾
Skim VS Drawboard PDF
Is Skim a good alternative to Drawboard PDF?

Microsoft Whiteboard
Meet the freeform digital canvas where ideas, content, and people come together.
52 Microsoft Whiteboard alternatives
License model
- Free • Proprietary
Application types
- Whiteboard
- Mind Mapping Tool
Platforms
- Windows
- Android
- iPhone
- iPad
+9
Microsoft Whiteboard Features
1. Interactive Whiteboard
2. Real time collaboration
3. Infinite canvas
4. Screen Sharing
5. Ad-free
6. Handwritten Notes
7. Pressure Sensitivity
Show all NaN Microsoft Whiteboard features ▾
Microsoft Whiteboard VS Drawboard PDF
Is Microsoft Whiteboard a good alternative to Drawboard PDF?